


the finest chef in the galaxy

by Hannah (hannahoftheinternet)



Series: the best friends you can find [2]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Birthday, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-19 00:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahoftheinternet/pseuds/Hannah
Summary: Commander Chakotay's birthday is coming up, and Kathryn knows just who to go to for the preparations.Set between 4x02 and 4x07





	the finest chef in the galaxy

**Author's Note:**

> The first in my series of one-shots describing conversations between Voyager's crewmembers.

“Neelix!” Kathryn deposited her coffee cup on the counter and went around into the galley. The cook was standing on his tiptoes, adding liberal amounts of what looked and smelled like garlic powder into his newest concoction. “Just the person I was looking for.”

“Captain!” As Neelix shifted his attention to her, the canister of spice fell from his hand into the pan. “Oh…” he launched into a series of unintelligible words, which Kathryn gathered were expletives, based on the passion they were delivered with. When he had extracted the glass container, covered in blacked bits of vegetable, he turned the burner off and looked at her. “I’m terribly sorry, Captain, there’s no excuse for language like that.”

Kathryn dismissed the worry. “Not a problem. I didn’t understand a word of it.”

Neelix brightened. “So, did you say you wanted to see me?”

“Commander Chakotay’s birthday is in a few days, and I was hoping you could prepare some food for the surprise party Lieutenant Paris and I are throwing,” she informed the Talaxian. “He liked the cake you did last year, the strawberry one with the green icing.”

Neelix rubbed his hands together in apparent delight. “Cooking for parties is my favorite kind of cooking!” he professed, but Kathryn knew from experience that he would say that about  _ any  _ type of cooking. “Just tell me what to do.”

She reeled off a list of Chakotay’s favorite foods: mushroom soup, vegetable  _ empanadas _ , and warm bread made with an Earth fruit called a cranberry.

“Cranberries are very tart and bitter until they’re cooked and sugar has been added,” Kathryn recited back. It was something she’d learned from her great-grandmother, who had grown up in Massachusetts, a place famous for its cranberries. She’d never needed the information until that moment. “I don’t know if there’s a Delta Quadrant equivalent.”

Neelix bent over and, with some effort, pulled a bag of bright yellow berries from one of his cabinets. “These should do the trick!” he announced, opening the bag and inhaling the scent. It was remarkable sweet, but it made her nostrils tingle a little bit. “ _ Chialo _ berries! Uncooked, they’ll knock you clean out with acid, but they make a very nice compote if prepared properly. What you need to do is…”

Kathryn winced internally at the havoc these little berries could cause, but Neelix was a (sometimes) trustworthy cook, and probably the only one on board who knew how to prepare these foods that were so foreign to her. He’d only sent four or five people to Sickbay that year, so the odds seemed to be in the crew’s favor.

“Sounds wonderful,” she said amiably, once Neelix had finished rambling. “How soon can you get started?”

“Oh, right away!” The chef took his pan off the burner and shoved it to one side. “This sounds like it’s going to be fun.”

“Good.” She was about to walk away and get another cup of coffee, but she doubled back to make sure that “You won’t tell Chakotay?”

“My lips are sealed,” Neelix assured her.


End file.
